About Us

The Financial Aid & Scholarship Department provides financial assistance and guidance in a caring and compassionate manner through appropriate communication and learning activities that will empower our students to fulfill their academic aspirations. As members of the university community, we collaborate with other campus departments and the community to provide outreach and access services, scholarship resources and educational work experiences to our student population. We will strive to teach responsibility through loan counseling and financial management workshops, while requiring satisfactory academic progress to promote responsible citizenship.

Lili Vidal provides vision and direction to a large department that serves more than 27,000 students by providing and coordinating more than $300 million in financial funding to support student enrollment and graduation. She advocates for students’ needs on a local, state and national level and is responsible for compliance with numerous federal, state and institutional regulations, directives and policies. She values collaborative relationships with colleagues and promoting student success and ongoing funding.

Ms. Vidal began her career at UCLA where she received her bachelor’s degree in English and developed a literacy program that involved fellow students, alumni and older LAUSD volunteers. She began her CSUN career in 1986 as a scholarship coordinator and went on to hold various positions in the Financial Aid & Scholarship Department, leading to her position as Director in 2006. She received her master’s from the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at CSUN.

Linda Brignoni’s primary responsibilities include serving as the second in command to the director of the Financial Aid & Scholarship Department and overseeing the day-to-day office operations. She works closely with the director in developing, interpreting and implementing policies to provide efficient and effective delivery of financial aid. In addition, Ms. Brignoni provides leadership and guidance to the Scholarship, Technical, Work-Study and Systems units. Brignoni has more than 25 years of experience in the financial aid field as well as education-related experience in the nonprofit and private sector. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology: counseling and interviewing and master's degree in foundations of education from CSUN.